Zeller was joined on the first team by Creighton’s Doug McDermott, Ohio State’s DeShaun Thomas, Michigan’s Trey Burke, Murray State’s Isaiah Canaan and Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum. Burke and McCollum tied for the final spot.

Elton Alexander of the Cleveland Plain Dealer is the person who voted for someone else. No need to dump on him. He was just wanting to give another player some recognition. He said he would have voted for CZ if he knew it was going to be unanimous. Not sure that I would agree with that logic; but, we all agree that Cody Zeller definitely deserved all 65 of those votes.

WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH THE TWO FRESHMAN? Does anyone have any info? Surely CTC would not have them on the roster if they are inelgible! I have seen the same questions about them on other sites and no one seems to have a clue! That would really hurt the team big time! Also have been hearing Beejay is a lock for IU everywhere does anyone have the scoop! That would be huge! also what is the statis on J. Lyle and T.Bluette? Rumor has it Louisville,and Michigan are on the inside? I knew there was something about Cleveland I didn’t like,CODY got ripped on that on that one!

Basically, there’s nothing concrete I can tell you on Hanner and Peter. We will talk to Crean again tomorrow and hopefully that will clear at least something up. In a way I sort of started all of this. I asked Crean at Big Ten Media Day about whether or not they had been cleared to play, and I even set that up as a shot in the dark because I’d never been told anything definitive. He gave me what was effectively a non answer about how they’re going to do the same things they’ve been doing in regards to them. I then asked point blank if they’d been officially cleared and he gave the same answer. He’s quoted in the blog on Big Ten Media Day. I’ve tried not to blow that story up mostly because the answer was so vague that I’m not sure what to take out of it.
I don’t get the impression that they’ve been declared ineligible, and I don’t get the impression that they’ve been declared eligible. And I don’t know exactly what the hold-up is either. I’ve checked in with a source outside the program and close to the situation, and that source didn’t have much clarity on it either. Based on discussions with that source, I definitely wouldn’t say there’s “an investigation” going on, but IU doesn’t appear to have been given the “all clear” signal on that one either. So like I said, we should get Crean tomorrow and a better understanding.

You must tell us everything you know concerning Hanner Bawa and Peter Jobe… I knew there was a reason Calipari passed on these two McDonald’s All-A-Hope-ings.

Hard to fathom keeping these giant high flying frames grounded. Will never utilizing the combined record wingspan of these two transcontinental Hoosier experiments forever be known as “How we Spruce Goosed Matt Roth and Ron Patterson?”

Without successfully landing the already high flying Zeller in Bloomington, an Indiana kid that transported us from hoops irrelevancy to the clouds, Crean would have been known as the Howard Hughes of the Big 10….There’s no “Movement” down a runway..There’s no testing of higher altitudes with a pilot like Yogi at the controls…There’s barely any lift at all…

Nothing but cumbersome lumber and museum pieces never cheered in flight…Towering vertical fuselages of young men left impotent on the bench with their flailing wings and wingspans forever clipped… Jurkin around like folksy heroes to our liger chants from the bleachers… Think of your tuition as the wasteful government contracts leading like a fuel hose to the end of a microphone filling Tom Crean’s wind and his Hugo Boss pockets.

We don’t need to worry about NCAA flight clearance for Jobe, Jurkin, Guy, Bawa, or Hanger Perea…We only need to worry that the All-American center from our backyard stays healthy.

I asked Crean at Big Ten Media Day about whether or not they had been cleared to play, and I even set that up as a shot in the dark because I’d never been told anything definitive.

Shot in the dark? So you were attempting to start trouble where none had been determined? Would this be known as “Establishment Roadblocking?”

Dustin- Taking Geoff’s bait? Establishment roadblocking? Stirring controversy?…Did you have Captain Scholly Crunch cereal for breakfast this morning?..Are you back to stirring trouble again? Trying to make soup where there’s no scoop? I sense you’re gaining big strides with ESPN offering you that new gig..

Whatever happens with any leftover favors for Mark Adams or stories ESPN can concoct from Seth Davis’s anal blow will not be the “roadblocks” to keep us from a Final Four show.

A similar situation is happening with Noel at UK. Its just a question. It isn’t an accusation that will lead to an investigation. Hit the med’s Harvard – you’ve gone to the south pole today. Remember the good ol days, like 2 days ago, when you saying what a great job Dustin was doing…

Or was that your version of a Seth Davis compliment that is really a thinly veiled invitation to leave your blog so a less Establishmenty Bloomington native can take his spot?

Yeah, Harvard, that last one’s not gonna fly.
I’m not trying to “establishment roadblock,” just asking the question. And if there was no “there” there, Crean would’ve told me so and it would’ve been over right there. If I just floated that without asking him about it and you thought I was trying to stir stuff up, you’d have a point. But I did, and he didn’t have a definitive answer on their status.
But I don’t want to give you too much hell, I did appreciate your kind words the other evening. Thank you.

On a completely different note, my buddy is in Bloomington with the PSU women’s soccer team for the B1G Tourney and is in charge of logistics.

He texted me a few minutes ago asking if there were any places he should take the team to eat. I told him Mother Bears, but they may be there the rest of the week if all goes according to plan, so he can take them several places.

I am taking recommendations for them… If anyone is a restaurant owner and needs some business now would be a good time to speak up.

It simply doesn’t matter. They’ve been trying to bring down Crean with pointless nothingness(much like bringing down Sampson over 3-way calls, water bottles, and backpacks)since the day he put Cody in candy stripes.

This is old stuff. If it pleasures you to massage Hanner and Jurkin and contemplate some ESPN Establishment busybody nobody poking their wanting baby cyclops into the ears of the NCAA, then, by all means, go for it.

The ratings will be too good for the Establishment. Rekindle all the controversy in the world. Go fishing with the big worm of Mike Fish. They won’t harm us now. The inevitable is in place. Zeller put Indiana basketball back onto the road of prominence. Play around with t-shirt girl and concocted controversies. I simply don’t care. It just doesn’t matter. The competition is now had. We have choir boys that can play some mean-ass hoops. We have a man of God that has the weapons of Christianity in his ring corner. This isn’t a Lumbee Native American coach or societal castaway kids that were living out of the backseats of cars on the South Side of Chicago. We are untouchable.

Indiana is ready to dominate. Now, as Knight once said….”relax and enjoy it.”

Husky Tom could have really helped you out on your restaurant inquiries, Geoff. He has a sophisticated palate and I’m pretty certain he loves dining out in Bloomington. Unfortunately, it appears he left the world of Hoosier sports blogging. Maybe he’s on the run from the law…Could even be living in Maine where the rest of the criminals hide.

I like the pork tenderloin sandwich at Trojan Horse. I like everything from Trojan Horse. Maybe too casual for your recommendation needs. I’m not very familiar with the more formal fare in Bloomington. Husky used to speak pretty highly of Malibu Grill…I think he even said he ran into Tom Crean there..He said he heard waitresses speaking in whispers what a marvelous tipper Crean was.

It’s always fun to flare up a few hemorrhoids that prefer to stay in dark hiding. Come to think of it, that could actually be Husky Tom(a.k.a “Ron”). He used to go off-topic hemorrhoid occasionally. Wonder if he got that big itchy problem fixed…? He knew good restaurants though. He talked frequently of Pho…? I do know his hemorrhoid was a foe that wasn’t faux when he was slurping his favorite Pho.

The problem Harvard, is that you are mistaking eligibility with a controversy. I think it’s perfectly normal for fans to want to know whether their players will be able to play.

But this brings up another discrepancy in your Establishment theory. You often like to say how the Establishment loves Cal, and criticizes IU, while lauding UK. Now you’re implying that the Clearinghouse is part of the Establishment and they are trying to take down Crean… Well they are also looking into the eligibility of Nerlens Noel. So by your logic they must also be trying to take down Cal. So now we finally have har(var)d evidence that the Establishment is also going after UK.

I would like to commend your post. It is my favorite of the last week or two. What is funny is, I doubt anyone from the HT will respond to you; like 4tards, they often quiet down when confronted with too good of an argument.

That being said, I feel a Korman Storm coming, where he will talk about how at least 4tards is posting about basketball and can’t we all get along etc. etc.

By the way, for Bloomington food fans, I suggest you check out Mandalay Cafe sometime, and have the Pho vietnamese noodle soup. The pho is big-city good; go with the beef or the chicken.

How can you visit Bloomington, and not eat at Nick’s? The food is mediocre, but the place is a true landmark. They’d probably have the most fun at Nick’s. Go to the Chocolate Moose for ice cream(Walnut Street..just south of downtown).

Do you remember a restaurant named “The Huddle?”…I believe it was primarily a place with a reputation for great burgers; a hangout of sorts to gather after football games, etc. It was in a round-shaped building on west 3rd St next to the Travelodge. I think it closed in the late 70s…It was purchased by Red Lobster and renovated.

Red Lobster eventually tore down the round building and put up one of their trademark establishments at the same location. I have a faint recollection of eating at the Red Lobster when it was operating out of the old famous clapboard-sided red “Huddle” building. Needless to say, the few years it operated in this manner, it had to be the only round Red Lobster in the nation.

I’ve never been able to find any old pictures of “The Huddle.” Found this but it doesn’t show the restaurant.

I’m told by a source that Ky-Noel pregnancy ok. Does that mean Calipari is cleaner than Crean? Or is it that Hanner being Colombian and Jurkin from the Sudan influences the way in which the NCAA views future players?

Consider both earned degrees from US secondary institutions helped by groups with connections to Christian groups that consider it part of their ministry to help students from war-torn lands come to the US. Is there an anti-Christian bias in the NCAA? Or is it merely anti-immigration? Are Crean’s openly voiced Christian beliefs behind the NCAA stand?

Or, in the case of Perea, is the bias against lower economic class kids of south-of-the-border families who have the audacity (as our President would call it) of attending private schools of the elite (LaPorte’s LaLumiere is indeed a demanding academic institution. Could it be the fear within the NCAA of turning the selective enrollment of the 99% into mere mutts…?

While traveling through Italy and while living in New Haven, CT I realized I had never eaten a better pizza than the sausage pizza at The Pizzeria on Kirkwood. Today living in Chicago, and 40 years later I still have not eaten a better sausage pizza than the Pizzeria’s on Kirkwood.

During IU’s run for the Rose Bowl, the two linebackers from the Hoosier team, Kevin Duffy and Ken Kaczmarek, both buddies, would hang up their pads, greet the fans at the stadium and go make pizzas at …The Pizzeria.

I would drag my b_lls through three mile of broken shredded glass to smell the tire tracks of the laundry truck that takes the Pizzeria’s dirty laundry away, if they’d deliver their pizza to my Millenium Park condo. That’s a good pizza.

Do I remember the Huddle? Oh, please. Besides stopping there to eat on my way to another pummeling by the BHS wrestling team (hey, once I won, while we took a 63-3 loss) when I was in high school, I also pumped gas across the street at the College Mall Shell Car Wash my freshman and sophomore years at IU.
My boss, Butch LeJuene, was an absolute prince of a man and still a Bloomington resident. Still one of the best jobs I ever had. If an employee didn’t have tuition money it would miraculously show up in his paycheck during registration. When you’d manage to pay him back he’d have no idea what you were paying him back for. For a gas station he had the most highly educated work force outside of the Fortune 500. I was the only undergrad I think he employed.

I already told you, Perea and Jurkin will be just fine. We only crucify kids with drug abuse problems, of troubled non-Christian families, or live in the backseats of cars. Of course, Bobby Knight was different. He gave a pothead, Jay Edwards, a second chance. He never spoke of supreme faiths. He mainly spoke of basketball.

Crean came and became the biggest “clearinghouse” in the history of our institution. More players have been ousted, declared ineligible, pushed out for better talent, and crucified as irredeemable flunkies and misfits of society, then any NCAA investigation could come up with in twenty years. They create easy classes and find tutors for the guys they want to keep. They pick and choose and make the system achievable for those they want to give the second chances. We invite the NCAA and call in Kent Benson’s Establishment spies to snoop around in those cases. Different branches of the Establishment function with different purposes. There is rarely a clear correlation between positive and negative effects on the basketball program..It’s simply warring agendas, complete hypocrisy, and cronyism during these witch hunts.

Using RMK as an example of a coach that didn’t run off players is pretty absurd. Especially for smoking pot. How many followed the late Tommy Baker out the door for smoking pot? He just happened to need Jay Edwards more. Butch Carter was there to take Tommy’s spot.

I’d post the players RMK ran off but there’s probably a character limit on the Scoop.

Note: Preemptive apology for the length…Translation: This is complete bullsh*t…Read at your own risk.

________________________________

Not to get too off-track, but the basic thrust of this thread was communicating and relishing in the preseason All-American status of Cody Zeller. No?

Suddenly, only 4 comments in, we have someone needing their mind put at ease concerning the status of Perea and Jurkin. Heavens to Betsy…The things we choose to fret about.

Please, please, please…Let’s not pretend where the real intention/translation behind that change of direction.

The Establishment is always looking for something. Mike Fish wrote a very scathing article that didn’t paint a very pretty picture of the organization that brought in Perea and Jurkin; particularly how it functions in terms of influence within the rest of the AAU circuit.

It wasn’t Harvard that started this buzz kill. I brought the conversation back to Zeller. I don’t have any uneasiness. Sorry I tend to be a little cynical about this sincere concern. When the Establishment and those in the NCAA that get paid to turn the other way when Duke is inventing classes for football players and allows coaches that have had a history as corrupt as John Calipari to still be operating, I tend to think whatever they’re trying to find at Indiana is pretty frivolous.

I don’t even believe it deserves much thought. I have no faith in the NCAA or the media when it comes to objective reporting and investigations on recruiting practices.

I have been in Tom Crean’s corner on this issue more than any of you. I completely agree with his take that he communicated at Hoosier Hysteria.

Maybe some of you that continue to want to give the concocted nothingness of Mike Fish and the NCAA credibility(all within the context of Calipari’s stellar recruiting history, agents that were sending checks to OJ Mayo while he was in high school, prostitution parties provided for football players at Miami, classes for credits that didn’t exist for football players at Duke, $100,000 diamond purchases made by a Duke player while at a tournament in NYC, etc., etc) and continually bring up these trivial “scholly crunch” and “clearinghouse” issues like whiny babies, need to give another good hard listen to Tom Crean’s words(start around the 2:50 mark..It’s really good stuff…Gotta love the way Tom Crean can sell it..It’s a gift..And it’s a gift you need in today’s world):

They didn’t want it to happen..There were people around that didn’t want to see it come back…IT IS COMING BACK!! IT IS BACK!! Tom Crean

And as I said above, bringing up these issues to our coach sounds to me like nothing but sour grapes from the “they” crowd. I guess it’s Dustin’s job, but in my humble opinion, it simply doesn’t matter. The witch hunt is over.

Tom Crean even distanced himself from the Adams family. Drew Adams is now working for Steve Alford. Crean got the golden nugget…He doesn’t need these meddlers anymore. He doesn’t need Kent Benson and those that tried to hold their nooses of influence around administrators necks..The name of that golden nugget is the name intended for praise mentioned in the title of this thread(until we went off-topic over inventions of nothingness).

Unless there is an NCAA investigation that will find Cody Zeller ineligible, the Establishment’s efforts aimed to roadblock IU for the last 8 years is dead.

I sincerely hope kids from war-torn parts of the world can get an education and are given chances to succeed at IU. I hope inner city kids from forgotten gang-ridden neighborhoods are also given chances and not crucified when they slip within the enticements of a world they’ve never known.

But as far as what the NCAA, or the media, can do to harm Indiana basketball at this point…? Tom Crean is too smart for that..He’s too shrewd for that. He’s too anticipatory for that…He’s too calculating for that…He’s too connected for that…He’s too Christian for that.

The Establishment has lost, gang. All the inventions and betting against us no longer matters. We have all the pieces in place to drive the final stake in their collective Establishment hearts. With or without Perea and Jurkin..With or without Roth and Patterson…We have a roster that can win a national championship(we actually had a roster that could win it last year without the tagging of two cheap fouls on Zeller).

The greatest fears those that hoped to keep us down now meet our greatest potential joy. The rest is up to fate and the players we cheer(and maybe a few referee whistles)..So, so, trivial to waste your shovels for dirt-digging a plane ticket given to a recruit from Colombia and isolated attempts at buzz-kill and invented fear. The witch hunt party is over.

Yogi Ferrell is special. Zeller is special. Remy and Jordy are glory, guts, and gumption…Watford is versatility and clutch….Hollowell will be smooth as silk…Oladipo is unstoppable energy…Sheehey is Fabio…Elston is Hannibal…We are gorgeous, we are mean, and we are hungry…and we are the hypocrites of ESPN’s worst nightmare and best job security all wrapped in one…WE are ratings!! There will be no stopping the Hoosier train.

We had never lost our prominence..”They” can’t keep Indiana kids down. “They” can’t stop the eternally beating lifeblood of high school and college hoops that comes from this great basketball state. “They” can’t keep us in a coma manufactured from concocted pedestals of example of the most trivial of NCAA recruiting investigations/violations(Seriously? 3-way calls and plane tickets for kids from war-torn lands?..Seriously?) “They” can’t use the power of their media Establishment methods, triteness and smallness, born of inner circles the privileged connection and elitism to stop us. The basketball train has left the Bloomington station….Relax and enjoy it. Put yourself at ease, Seth, Dustin, and Geoff. WE ARE BACK.

Harvard – stop being a moron. I know it’s difficult, but stop for a day. Kyle Anderson was just cleared to play at UCLA. These situations are currently happening all over the country with lots of freshmen. If Kyle Anderson werent cleared UCLA’s chances would be severely hindered. Same with Noel at UK…. And if for some reason PJ and HP aren’t allowed to play well then that, coupled with the Elston injury, severely changes our front court depth, and in turn Cody’s aggressiveness. It’s not the end-all-be-all, and IU could still win a title without them, but it definitely lessens their chances.

This has nothing to do with the media. This has nothing to do with Establishment. The NCAA process is underway whether we ask the question or not. It’s underway everywhere.

I guarantee you no one is going to read more than the first 2 paragraphs of that dissertation you just wrote… Save your damn breath until you start making sense.

IMHO, Yogi is the only ‘must have’ coming in and we could have gotten by without him if need be. The other recruits are just icing on the cake. We really are that deep. For the most part I think, overall, that we had addition by subtraction in our player turnover.

That being said, with Hanner under the tutelage of Will, Vic, CWat, Derek, et al, and PJ learning from the smartest big man in the college game who knows what the ceiling could be for these guys. Since Cody will stay for four years he can work with Luke Fischer next season.

We ARE back. We are deep…and there is no end in sight. Whatever feeling one my have about CTC and his beliefs the one thing that continually comes up is that he is a tireless worker with tremendously high standards who just never stops.

For some Establishment reason, PJ and HP are deemed ineligible. We both agree we still have a dominant team, and we’ll settle on 30-3 with a B1G title and #1 seed in the NCAA’s… We cruise to the Final 4, where we meet up with our nemesis MSU. They came out of the south region as the 3 seed. In the first 5 minutes the refs blow a foul on Zeller and then a second when Cody takes a charge which is called a block.

Do we sit Cody the rest of the half? How do we deal with Nix and Payne?

Then he gets his 4th foul with 12 minutes to go in the 2nd half… Now what?

This scenario is hauntingly familiar to last years tournament.

If we have Perea and Jurkin to come off the bench then I feel pretty damn confident that we can defend, bang and rebound with a team like MSU, or Duke, or UK, that will have multiple quality bigs, but if not I think we suffer without Zeller on the floor.

Can we still beat anyone? Sure, but we better shoot like we did last year and hope that the other team can’t punish us down low.

…at ease, at ease. Do not fret, you and Seth Davis have lost the bet. Hoosiers are back. Put your feet up on that BarcaLounger and be at ease..Would you, could you, please, please, please? You’ve spent far too much energy on Peter Jurkin. Quit staring at lighthouses. Think of Joyce Meyer.

And I’m paid big bucks to be a moron. You know so little about the Establishment.

Cher- Your first paragraph was spot-on. Perea and Jurkin are very raw…They need development. Even with the best tutors, that takes time. Elston even admitted Peter Jurkin requires softer hands.

Dustin-

I thought you looked down upon screen name thievery…? How many strikes will you allow? I have stuck to my promise to not use multiple screen names(99%). Will you stick to your word in not allowing impostors to hijack a screen name?

Bring in the kid from Westfield. Bring in Etherington. Hell, let Remy bang down low. They’ll keep us plenty fortified while Cody rests in foul trouble.

We may lose so much in terms of flow and offensive continuity, it may not be wise to even bring Perea or Jurkin off the bench in critical game stretches of a deep tournament game. I’d roll the dice and keep Cody on the floor.

MSU? F*ck MSU. Their day is done. This is our season.

Establishment guys are always trying to infect with doubt. We have the weapons. They won’t be able to defend Watford and Jordy and Yogi…And this Hollowell kid is going to be very good.

I’m going to conclude with what I should have done a long time ago on this thread..

Congratulations to you, Cody Zeller. You have gobbled up nearly every preseason award and type of national recognition available. Seize the day. Enjoy the limelight and the sunshine of youth. Thank you for coming to Indiana. Thank you for putting the Establishment, once again, at ease. Thank you for making all Hoosiers proud in your sportsmanship, example, and effort. College basketball needs a lot more Cody Zellers.

Well, sure, Geoff, depth is very important. I’m guessing Elston goes low and bites a lot. We only have one Cody and he can’t play every minute.

Just like LeBron, Rodgers, Kobe, Brees, Howard, Brady, Manning, and so forth and so on. When your best player and the centerpiece of your team goes down it’s a problem. I have high hopes for PJ. Really high because I think CTC has one of the best eyes for overlooked players in a generation, but if we’re relying on Peter to secure the banner we’ve got a problem, Houston.

Let me ask you something, where would you place the ‘quality bar’ for the minutes TP gave us filling in for Cody? I love the guy but, aside from the dunk of the year he had moments that resembled a traffic cone with bad hands.

So, I guess my point is, yes, if we lose the best player in the country it will be detrimental to the team and, no, we won’t have a qualified backup if we lose both PJ and Hanner and we might not if we DO have them.

But…we’re gonna have them both. I think the IU staff did their homework and if they dump on Hanner it will open up an old can of worms the NCAA wants to be forgotten about. They are just dragging their feet. I predict…NEXT THURSDAY they will both get the green light.

So…if that happens next Thursday I have the right to remind everyone in every post I write for the rest of their collegiate career.

I mean, I think Geoff’s point — and certainly my point — is that it’s part of my job to ask the question and it doesn’t amount to trying to “stir stuff up.” Basically, if Crean would’ve said, ‘Yeah, they’re good,’it would’ve been noted and that would’ve been it. You can argue back and forth how much of a difference Perea and Jurkin will make because of Zeller. Reasonable people can fall anywhere on that scale. But I think it’s inarguable that if Perea and Jurkin aren’t available, people are still going to want an explanation and they’re going to expect me to have one. And it’s probably better that I get out in front of that then wait for a press release like we got for Guy-Marc Michel.
Can they live out both of them? Yes. Could there come a time when they wished they had them? Yes. Lots could or could not happen there. But it’s still not a story I can flatly ignore.

Maybe you should also ask him if any form of tutoring could have kept Patterson in uniform(instead of losing him last minute)and if he’s now feeling nervous for convincing Jonny Marlin to be his final walk-on instead of Matt Roth(a kid that would have broken into the NCAA offices to remain in a Hoosier uniform). Do we miss anything losing Perea and Jurkin and a questionable near-future Elston with an eligible Roth(instead of a redshirt munchkin preacher boy)and a Ron Patterson we invent some classes for(e.g. Duke football players).

These are the harder hitting questions you won’t ask and can’t ask…Baiting him with Mike Fish worms is child’s play. I like you, Dustin. I also know how high you were on Perea. I also saw a little doubt from you a while back when you were saying he hadn’t progressed in the post development phases as you expected to see.

Is the stagnation of that development behind all this “clearinghouse” doubt/issue? Maybe you were wrong in anticipating he was going to be the next Hakeem Olajuwon? Good diversion maneuver on this eligibility stuff(I mean, you already had Mike Fish in your corner..and Geoff)..I bet you have a nice pump fake in a game of one-on-one. I don’t bite on it. You’re shrewd. I like it. Establishment will like it. It’s right up Seth’s alley.

Really? I said it wouldn’t be an issue. What in the hell is the difference what time we have lunch?

Never mind, I’ll give you one awkward attempt at a prediction(seeing how you once said it’s really not your forte).

I predicted Roth would be playing college basketball somewhere this year. I’ve been wrong as a Luther Ingram song. I certainly wouldn’t want to cost myself a once in a lifetime opportunity to have Cafe Pizzeria with Chet.

Chet – I am not jumping off a bridge IF for some strange reason they aren’t cleared… I just think we’re better off with them. As far as Pritch… I’m happy for his service, but I’m literally not sure he could have started for my men’s league team last year. I’m sure I could have gone big and moved Schachtner to the 3, but…

And if it happens at lunch tomorrow then please don’t stop reminding us after they’ve left. You’ll retain those rights until this blog ceases to exist.

Harvard – if a UCLA fan asked their local reporter about Anderson’s eligibility what would that have to do with Mike Fish?

Even though I know you’re just being a prick for the sake of being a prick I think I actually am starting to fall for it and get sick of you. Well done sir. It’s not easy to raise angst from a 1000 miles away.

Laffy – Kyle Anderson and Nerlens Noel are not foreign players. I am assuming that Hollowell and Yogi had to be cleared too. My guess is it has more to do with their HS backgrounds and whether everything transfers between these schools and academies correctly. A lot of the top players, not just foreign players, hop around during their HS careers… We may end up with a similar scenario next year with Stan Robinson because he transferred to Findlay Prep…

Those two guys don’t play for us. If we lose these two, it will be three foreign players in a row we lost at the last second.

Screw that.

We don’t need to go after them anymore.

And I can’t believe it’s taken this long for you to get sick of Hillbilly’s “THIS IS MY FORUM AND I’M GOING TO POST 50 TIMES A DAY WITH COMPLETE GIBBERISH SO YOU CLOWNS WILL PAY ATTENTION TO ME BECAUSE I’M A WORTHLESS DICK” schtick.

And that Dustin lets him get away with it……..

Since there are no “Scoops” on here anyway, just re-name the place “Hillbilly’s Desperate Stab for Seeking Attention Hellhole”.

Can’t find the key to that ‘ol ball and chain, Laffy? I mean, if you hate it and you so obviously hate all the posters on the Scoop there certainly isn’t anything mentally healthy about you hanging around here.

I mean, posting on a forum where you spend all your time doing basically nothing except expressing disdain for the other posters serves absolutely no purpose other than drawing…attention…to…yourself…

Let’s be fair Laffy. I’m pretty liberal with what I allow on here. If I felt it more important to closely govern the rhetoric and maintain politeness than to allow freedom of expression, I would have banned a lot of people and you would not have been spared. I let you guys make the comment section of this blog what you want to make it. Maybe that’s idiotic and maybe it’s costing me readers, but I think I’m pretty consistent in that. Harvard gets a lot of leeway, but so do you.

I do blame myself. I made a decision on how I was going to handle comment board decorum and I have to live with the consequences and so does the blog. What I’m saying is, don’t act like you don’t benefit from the same freedom that Harvard does. Harvard has his conspiracy theory rants and you have your screaming attacks on “Knight-worshippers” and “Bible-thumpers.” (Which I will credit you for having minimized in recent weeks. Thanks for that.) Regardless, if I tossed everyone on here for having a tired schtick, exactly how many posters do you think I’d still have?

Laffy, I think even those who disagree with you on a number of issues would agree that using the blog as a replacement for a mental/emotional health professional is getting ridiculously out-of-hand.

My only disagreements with your postings is that the language goes beyond extreme once in a while. Other disagreements (even on matter of beliefs) are fine. I just want to keep the language moderately reasonable so that teenage grandchildren can share the reading on the Hoosiers.

I do agree, somehow issues here should somehow be related to IU, athletics or the general conversations between friends (I kind of enjoy some meandering exchanges from IU athletics to travels, food, location, adventures and even occasional opinions…in other words, conversations between friends that resemble sitting at Nicks.

But is is important to me that respect be maintained between individuals and I suspect you generally agree with that. Even despite our disagreement over Bob and Patrick Knight (our personal experiences with them may be totally different…so be it. We can discuss or agree to disagree and leave it at that.

Where we totally agree is in our view that the blog should not be used and, especially, abused as a replacement for mental/emotional health service agencies or to personally attack or demean others whose common bond to us is our shared passion for the Hoosiers.

Laffy, sorry…this morning I wrote a post trying to poke a little fun at those who change into several different identities in an attempt to try to get individuals (regardless of screen name) to assume responsibility for their postings (I think you clearly do). And when, writing my thoughts to you in my post #75 of this thread I forgot to return to my usual (Only once, and then as a joke that I made clear in the post itself, did I previously post with a different ‘handle’). Sorry, just accidentally forgot to return the screen to TsaoTsuG.

Dustin…several of us have reached a hand of friendship across to some on this blog who sometimes appear to abuse it. (And, I’ll accept that some on this blog may think that very same thing of me, which is fine-I do try to avoid inappropriate language).

And, I strongly believe tolerance for the individuality of opinion certainly should be accepted (in fact- tolerating and tolerance are such ugly, ugly words…personally, I much prefer the respect of being ‘accepted’ as is, rather than tolerated).

I would love for a tone of a minimum basic respect to be maintained in the dialogue. That can be accomplished without having to sensor ideas and opinions but maintaining a basic expectation of respect and dialogue, as well as a decorum of language that avoids an ‘XXX’ rating. (in other words, no extreme language by common agreement).

YFY/TT– As I said, when I first came on here, I was perfectly fine. And then Hillbilly started ripping me with “infested pus” in ALL of his responses to me.

So, I figured, “Fight fire with fire.”

I do take it that/your way. And I agree it’s gotten out of hand how Dustin lets Hillbilly use this place and why I suggested the name change for the forum.

We’ve got the # 1 team in the country and this place is STILL Hillbilly’s personal sandbox to spew his nonsense because he’s an attention-whore instead of a place where people can actually talk about the team instead of wading thru his crap.

Wow, you, me and Geoff agree on something…..and I bet there are more.

As far as your feelings on Knight, if people want to like him, that’s fine. What I’m not going to do, however, is stay silent when people talk about Bob as if he were Jesus himself……….which you do quite often. It’s so over-the-top ridiculous is makes me throw up in my mouth.

He was FAR from a Saint and while he treated SOME people great, he also treated MANY others like dog feces on the bottom of his shoe.

What ironic is those same people who slobber all over Knight will then turn around and blast black athletes for their “I’m good at sports so I can be a jerk” attitude.

You guys act like since Knight won a lot of games, he should be able to get away with that.

Complete hogwash. And it sends a HORRIBLE message to kids: As long as you win, you can treat others like garbage.

As I said, my personal and professional experience was entirely different than what seems to influence yours. I do have tremendous respect for him, admire his genius, found his intellectual interest for history very different than many I met in his profession…etc.

Also, I personally witnessed his relationship with players, concern with individuals in tough situations as well as some of the public sides that were an asset to the University and Bloomington. Likewise, I knew Pat to be a fine kid and tough competitor who had to deal with a lot of pressures from those who supported and those who resented his being Bobby’s kid. I never witnessed anything except a good man in Patrick as well.

Did I witness situations in which I questioned BK or Pat’s? Heck, I’ve witnessed situation I got involved in that I wished I had handled differently? And, I can say about my father and/or my own kids…that’s in the nature of being human.

Either way, you’ve made your statement and I’ve made mine. We disagree, but neither of us need go over the deep end over it. In the meantime we can both continue to enjoy this blog.

Remember your own words the next time you start slobbering over Bob like he’s Jesus’ brother when it comes to “going over the deep end.”

I know Bob’s done a lot of good.

But only the most blind worshipper would deny he wasn’t also a complete jackass at times ( I truly hate the “we’re all human” crap as an excuse because when the rest of us screw up, we admit it……..unlike Bob) and was not as PURE as you make him out to be when it came to ethics.